Niluka creates Olympics upset; beats World’s No. 8 to enter next round

Sri Lanka’s overall captain the shuttle king Niluka Karunaratne yesterday staged an upset at the 2012 Olympics Games when he beat world’s number eight Japan’s Kenchi Tago 2-0 at the men’s Badminton singles Group C match at the Wembley Arena in London.

Niluka won the match 21-18 and 21-16 and qualified to move on to the next round.

Niluka who is within the top 40 badminton players in the world has won the national men’s single title on ten occasions since 2000.

The Associated Press in a report filed out of London said a Sri Lankan who has been on a world tour of badminton’s backblocks for 10 months pulled off the first major upset in the London Olympics by eliminating eighth-ranked Kenichi Tago of Japan 21-18, 21-16 on Monday.

“This is the biggest win in the history of Sri Lanka badminton,” Niluka Karunaratne was quoted as saying by AP.

It said nobody expected the exit to be shown to Tago, who was tipped to be a medal contender as he was an All England finalist in 2010 and semifinalist this year.

“Bolstered by the fact he’s always the underdog whomever he plays, Karunaratne said he was relaxed before meeting Tago for the first time. Midway through the first game he began to realize Tago was no quicker than him. Karunaratne was also starting to outlast Tago in rallies. The near-capacity crowd in Wembley Arena roared when Karunaratne took the first game,” AP said.

“I don’t know why the crowd was cheering for me but it was a great feeling,” he said.

In the second game, Tago, who relies on his fitness to retrieve shots and turn defense into attack, looked increasingly flat-footed. The points became easier for Karunaratne, who finally won on his third match point, on attack. He dropped his racket, pointed to his father and mentor Louvie in the stands and thumped his heart three times.

“Winning this is incredible,” Karunaratne said.

Then again, he’s in the best form of his life - has been since October when he began traveling to qualify for the Olympics at his third attempt. He won his first international title on his father’s birthday in Puerto Rico last November, and picked up more titles in Miami, Wales, Ugada and Iran. His ranking shot up from the 160s to a Sri Lanka-best ever 47.

In the last 16, Karunaratne is likely to face a friend, 10th-seeded Nguyen Tien Minh of Vietnam.

“If I play my best I can get another win,” Karunaratne said.